Current:Home > Contact-usLoudspeaker message outside NYC migrant shelter warns new arrivals they are ‘not safe here’-InfoLens
Loudspeaker message outside NYC migrant shelter warns new arrivals they are ‘not safe here’
View Date:2024-12-23 15:22:40
NEW YORK (AP) — A New Yorker upset that the city has been housing homeless migrants on his suburban block has set up a loudspeaker to deliver an unwelcoming message to his new neighbors: “The community wants you to go back to New York City. Immigrants are not safe here.”
The message, recorded in six languages, blares all day from a loudspeaker on Scott Herkert’s well-groomed front lawn on Staten Island, urging migrants brought to a temporary shelter inside a long-vacant Roman Catholic high school not to get off the bus. The message also claims the building has rats and cockroaches.
It is one of several ways some people have let shelter residents know they are not welcome on Staten Island, which, despite what the recording says, is part of New York City. Hundreds of protesters have also held a large rally outside the former school, urging the city to house migrants elsewhere.
The women and families placed by the city inside the former Saint John Villa Academy have heard the message loud and clear.
“We have to close our eyes and close our ears,” said Aminetou El Alewai, a 39-year-old woman from Mauritania who moved into the shelter last week. “We are good people. We are not criminals. We came because we have problems in our country.”
As thousands of migrants continue to arrive in New York City, officials have scrambled to open new emergency shelters, turning to tent facilities, school gyms and parks to comply with a state law requiring housing for the homeless. Though Staten Island is home to only a small fraction of those shelters, they have generated an outsize share of animosity.
The hostile reception coincides with increasingly dire rhetoric from Mayor Eric Adams, who warned last week that the migrant crisis would “destroy New York City.” The Democrat has insisted that the more than 100,000 who have arrived so far are welcome, but he has said the cost of housing tens of thousands of people could be as much as $12 billion over the next three years. Adams has rejected allegations from advocates of using migrants as “props” in an ongoing bid for federal money.
Staten Island is known for leaning conservative and Republican in a mostly liberal, Democratic city.
Herkert, a New York state court system employee, also has a tarp on his lawn painted with a profane version of the phrase, “No way!” Gesturing at the largely empty street in front of his home Tuesday, Herkert said the new shelter has upended his block’s quiet charm and brought toilets and dumpsters to the other side of his fence.
While the loudspeaker message — in Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Urdu, Chinese and English — warns that the former school is infested with roaches and mold, Alewai said she has found it to be perfectly clean, if a bit uncomfortable.
As Alewai spoke to Associated Press reporters on a sidewalk, parents picked up their children from a neighboring private school, directing nervous glances and, in one case, harsh words at the new arrivals.
“I am sorry for the trouble of the woman who was just talking,” Alewai said in French. “I came as a refugee to New York and they brought me here. Indeed, I am not comfortable here.”
Both employees and residents of the shelter said protesters have cursed at and threatened them, frequently playing loud music late into the night. Employee and lifelong Queens native Gabrielle Dasilva said she was recently told to go back to her home country.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office, Kayla Mamelak, said the administration was “disturbed to learn about the false messages being played outside the St. John’s Villa Academy respite site” and police are working to “maintain the peace in the area.”
“As always, New York City continues to provide care for asylum seekers with compassion and care,” she said.
City Councilman David Carr, a Republican who attended Saint John Villa Academy, defended the audio recording as protected First Amendment activity and said his constituents have good reason to worry about the high cost of housing migrants.
“This is an opportunity for folks in the neighborhood who are angry to demonstrate that constructively,” Carr said. “They’re just trying to ensure that their voices are heard.”
John Tabacco, a right-wing media personality and candidate for city comptroller, said he collaborated on the effort with Herkert and the loudspeakers messages have clearly resonated with neighbors.
“There have been a lot of concerned citizens out there, and they’ve been spending a lot of time doing some good old fashioned civil disobedience,” he said.
Around the corner, John Gurriera, a 72-year-old resident of Staten Island, said he was disappointed by the reaction from some of his neighbors, which he described as “not very Christian.”
“This is New York City,” he added. “We all came from someplace else.”
___
Associated Press writers Bobby Caina Calvan and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.
veryGood! (7316)
Related
- The charming Russian scene-stealers of 'Anora' are also real-life best friends
- Karol G honored for her philanthropy at Billboard Latin Music Awards with Spirit of Hope Award
- Lawyers say election denier and ‘MyPillow Guy’ Mike Lindell is out of money, can’t pay legal bills
- Jason Derulo Deeply Offended by Defamatory Claims in Emaza Gibson's Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
- Waymo’s robotaxis now open to anyone who wants a driverless ride in Los Angeles
- Woman arrested after gunshots fired in Connecticut police station. Bulletproof glass stopped them
- How to make sense of the country's stunningly strong job market
- 'I questioned his character': Ex-Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome on why he once grilled Travis Kelce
- Michelle Obama Is Diving Back into the Dating World—But It’s Not What You Think
- Britney Spears' Dad Jamie Spears Hospitalized With Bacterial Infection
Ranking
- Brianna LaPaglia Reacts to Rumors Dave Portnoy Paid Her $10 Million for a Zach Bryan Tell-All
- Stock market today: Asian benchmarks mostly rise in subdued trading on US jobs worries
- Giving birth in a war zone: The struggles of many Syrian mothers
- 'The Golden Bachelor' recap: Who remains after first-date drama and three eliminations?
- She's a trans actress and 'a warrior.' Now, this 'Emilia Pérez' star could make history.
- Indonesia denies its fires are causing blankets of haze in neighboring Malaysia
- Ranking MLB's eight remaining playoff teams: Who's got the best World Series shot?
- What's plaguing Paris and why are Catholics gathering in Rome? Find out in the quiz
Recommendation
-
Mississippi woman pleads guilty to stealing Social Security funds
-
Eligible electric and plug-in vehicle buyers will get US tax credits immediately in 2024
-
'This Book Is Banned' introduces little kids to a big topic
-
Security questions swirl at the Wisconsin Capitol after armed man sought governor twice in one day
-
California voters reject proposed ban on forced prison labor in any form
-
Fire in Lebanese prison leaves 3 dead and 16 injured
-
Ukraine says more than 50 people killed as Russia bombs a grocery store and café
-
Woman arrested after gunshots fired in Connecticut police station. Bulletproof glass stopped them